The 2025 King George VI Chase

[Ian_Davies]

It was probably a fitness run,considering the distance and the time off - just declared his brilliance..
11/4,get on.!

LOVE this.^

reet NEVER sits on the fence.

Good luck, sir, I may yet follow you in (and definitely will if the price gets much bigger).

 

[Danny]

Maybe I'm missimigg something,but 11/4 Gaelic Warrior is a barmy price.

Personally I'd still come down on the side of Fact to File if they both run which I'd be more concerned atm that GW might not turn up. I'm absolutely kicking myself for not taking the 12's about Fact to file when everyone else seemed to be presuming he wouldn't run but I thought myself if it was down to JP's team then he was always coming here rather than go back to Leopardstown and face GDC again. Its not very often I fall foul of failing to pull the trigger but it is what it is.

I will say this though as Archipenko went through them the other day so did I and you can, make very reasonable arguments for Jango Baie, The juke box man, Djelo, Banbridge and who ever else and in doing so it can lead to some confusion about if there is any value in betting any of them. When I sat back and thought about it it became simpler. When I saw what Fact to file did in the Ryan air, and what Garlic Warrior did in the Bowl it convinced me that they were top class. When I saw them in the Durkan together when the taps were fully turned on ( the only time you can truly see how good a horse is) they both looked very special even to the opposition who probably couldn't see them as they crossed the line.

So a thought to anybody who backs against them, you are either hoping they don't run close to their best that they don't like Kempton or they fall never a good strategy. If not for that what will if take to best them at anything near their best ? Imo it'd take the likes of Kauto or Galopin de champs at somewhere near their very best. So as I looked at Jango, Jukebox, Djelo and the rest I looked at their prices and thought would I back that price to say you're the next Kauto or GDC. The answer was no.

 

[reet hard]

Personally I'd still come down on the side of Fact to File if they both run which I'd be more concerned atm that GW might not turn up. I'm absolutely kicking myself for not taking the 12's about Fact to file when everyone else seemed to be presuming he wouldn't run but I thought myself if it was down to JP's team then he was always coming here rather than go back to Leopardstown and face GDC again. Its not very often I fall foul of failing to pull the trigger but it is what it is.

I will say this though as Archipenko went through them the other day so did I and you can, make very reasonable arguments for Jango Baie, The juke box man, Djelo, Banbridge and who ever else and in doing so it can lead to some confusion about if there is any value in betting any of them. When I sat back and thought about it it became simpler. When I saw what Fact to file did in the Ryan air, and what Garlic Warrior did in the Bowl it convinced me that they were top class. When I saw them in the Durkan together when the taps were fully turned on ( the only time you can truly see how good a horse is) they both looked very special even to the opposition who probably couldn't see them as they crossed the line.

So a thought to anybody who backs against them, you are either hoping they don't run close to their best that they don't like Kempton or they fall never a good strategy. If not for that what will if take to best them at anything near their best ? Imo it'd take the likes of Kauto or Galopin de champs at somewhere near their very best. So as I looked at Jango, Jukebox, Djelo and the rest I looked at their prices and thought would I back that price to say you're the next Kauto or GDC. The answer was no.

GC' a monster,Danny, that's already shown his versatility.

 

[Ian_Davies]

Full disclosure - because IMO the King George is a specialist contest which historically various horses have farmed (multiple wins), a bit like the Champion Hurdle, I've got ante-post bets made the best part of a year ago on Banbridge and Il Est Francais.

Things haven't gone well for either since and I've consequently got under the current odds but, with my doubts about some at the head of the market, I've actually not entirely written off either bet.

 

[Desert Orchid]

Screenshot of the top Timeform jumpers (so most of the KG field are there) as of last week. I'm sure Banbridge was over 170 after winning last year's race:

 

[luckyme]

The big story



By Scott Burton



Il Est Francais is ready to put an uninspiring comeback run at Ascot behind him, with trainer Tom George and his son Noel convinced he has turned a corner in the countdown to the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase.

A big-ticket runner at Kempton on the last two Boxing Days, Il Est Francais will be ridden for the first time in public by Harry Cobden, who Tom George revealed would have been aboard in the Ascot Chase last month but for the presence in the line-up of Pic D’Orhy for Paul Nicholls.

James Reveley has ridden Il Est Francais on all but two of his 17 starts over hurdles and fences, but with Richard and Lizzie Kelvin-Hughes having bought out co-owner Nicolas de Lageneste and moved the horse to Tom George from his son Noel's base near Chantilly, Cobden will now take over when the seven-year-old runs in Britain.

“James has done an unbelievable job with the horse, but he’s based in France and the horse is in England,” said Tom George. “Harry has put a lot of work into him, he’s been in schooling and knows him well now.

“It was always said that Harry would probably ride him when he was in Britain, and he would have ridden him at Ascot. There’s no ill-feeling, that was always how it was going to be."